Service innovation and policy

diffusion: an exploratory study of

the Bookstart program in Taiwan
Milan Tung-Wen Sun
National Chi Nan University, Puli, Taiwan
Mei-Chiang Shih
Tunghai University, Taichung City, Taiwan
Keng-Ming Hsu
National University of Tainan, Tainan City, Taiwan, and
Jenhei Chen
National Chi Nan University, Puli, Taiwan
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is twofold: to analyse the diffusion of an innovative policy or
service and the factors inuencing it through an explorative study of the diffusion of the Bookstart
program in Taiwan; and second, to provide an analytical framework for further study of this program.
Design/methodology/approach The study is both empirical and theoretical. It uses data from
existing studies and also agencies involved in Bookstart to explain the diffusion of the program. It then
draws on theories of policy diffusion and the initial ndings of this study to develop an analytical
framework for the further study of the diffusion of the Bookstart program.
Findings The Bookstart program, which is designed to promote reading habits for children 0 to 3
years old and to strengthen parent-children relations, was originally initiated in the UK. It was rst
introduced into Taiwan in Taichung County in 2003. The paper shows how the program spread
throughout Taiwan and indicates the role of the key players in the diffusion, including charitable
institutions, local politicians and leaders, local authority agencies, and the Ministry of Education. The
paper posits an analytical framework identifying factors which may help to promote or facilitate the
diffusion. In this respect, the paper draws on the theoretical literature and also initial evidence from the
research so far undertaken. This will guide the research in the next stage of the study.
Originality/value This explorative study provides an example of the nature, process and direction
of the diffusion of a policy or service innovation, and suggests the possible factors promoting or
facilitating it, as identied in the initial ndings of the research and in the relevant theoretical
literature.
Keywords Taiwan, Reading, Children, Literacy, Bookstart, Policy and service innovation,
Diffusion of innovation, Public-private partnership
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Since the 1980 s, global public management has been transformed. Governments have
reshaped their role and meliorated their relationships with civil societies. In order to be
more efcient than before, they need to respond to global service innovations. Service
innovations are dened as new services offered by public organisations to meet an
external user or market need: they are concerned with what is produced (Walker, 2007,
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0951-3558.htm
Bookstart
program in
Taiwan
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International Journal of Public Sector
Management
Vol. 26 No. 5, 2013
pp. 361-374
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0951-3558
DOI 10.1108/IJPSM-05-2013-0067
p. 593). Bookstart Programme, which was originally introduced in the UK, is one good
example of a service innovation.
The rst Bookstart Programme was initiated and implemented under the
administration of the British independent charity Booktrust in 1992, involving the joint
effort of the School of Education at the University of Birmingham and several medical
and library organisations in the City of Birmingham. The aim of the Bookstart
Programme is to encourage shared reading experiences between parents and carers,
and children aged 0 to three years. The signicant UK experiences of cultivating
reading habits for babies and youngsters attracted attention from many organisations
in the world, including the Hsin-Yi Foundation which introduced the Programme in
Taiwan.
Taichung County was the rst local government in Taiwan to adopt the Programme
in 2003 with public libraries providing the service. By 2008 all of its 21 township
libraries were providing the service. In the last six years more public libraries in other
counties in Taiwan have offered this Programme as part of their services, often with
support from the Ministry of Education in the central government. In addition, in 2009,
the Ministry decided to promote the Bookstart Programme within elementary schools.
How and why this innovative Programme was successfully diffused among public
libraries deserves close scrutiny.
In this exploratory study, we will rst consider the origins of the Bookstart
Programme in the UK, and then examine how it was rst adopted in a particular
library in Taichung County in Taiwan. Following this, we will discuss the diffusion of
the Programme throughout Taichung County and in other parts of Taiwan. In the last
section, an analytical framework will be developed to guide further research in the next
stage of the study, focusing on the factors that have inuenced the diffusion of the
Programme. In this regard, we will draw on ndings in the explorative study and key
points in the theoretical literature about the inuences on the diffusion of policy and
service innovation.
Bookstart Programme in the UK
Originating in the UK, Bookstart is a project, administered by the independent charity
Booktrust, that encourages all parents and child carers to enjoy reading with children
from as early an age as possible. The objective of the Programme is to ensure that
every child in the UK develops a lifelong love of books. Although the argument may be
controversial, many researchers have suggested that children develop much of their
literacy capacity to learn in the rst four years (Wells, 1985; De Temple, 2001; Collins
et al., 2005). Parents and carers play a fundamental role in promoting literacy by
talking and reading daily to children (US Department of Education, 1999, 2003). The
kinds of interaction that occur during book reading will help to develop childrens
cognitive and language skills. Interactive parent-child reading experiences may be
more signicant for younger children and may then decline in importance as children
enter formal instruction at school (Bus et al., 1995).
Wendy Cooling, the founder of Bookstart and later the director of Booktrust,
initiated the Programme in 1992 in Birmingham with a pilot project involving 300
babies, with the project originally sponsored by Unwin Publisher. Extensive studies
have demonstrated that Bookstart children began school with signicant advantages
and with higher attainment in all aspects of their pre-school. In addition, Bookstart
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families tend to enjoy better parent-children relationship, and were more willing to visit
libraries and to spend money buying books in the long run (Booktrust, 2011a).
This evidence persuaded J Sainsbury PLC to sponsor Bookstart as their Millennium
project in 1999-2000 enabling the Programme to achieve national recognition for the
rst time. Together with Sainsburys, over 26 childrens book publishers, the
bookseller Red House Books, and various well-known writers have in recent years
taken a lead role in sponsoring and organising Bookstart.
The UK government has also provided seed funding for Bookstart. In the spending
review in July 2004, the Chancellor, Gordon Brown, announced funding to extend the
Bookstart scheme to enable universal provision of free books to every child at three key
stages. They covered Bookstart Baby Pack IS for children up to 12 months,
Bookstart for toddlers, and My Bookstart Treasure Chest for three to four year-olds.
Bookstart has now evolved into a number of projects for babies and young children
including the Bookstart Book Crawl for toddlers, a Booktouch Pack Scheme for blind
and partially sighted children, a Bookshine Pack for deaf children, and Bookstart
Rhymetime activities to encourage parents and carers to share rhymes and songs with
babies and young children (Booktrust, 2011b). The funding and resources are
channelled through the Department of Education in England and the devolved
administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The Programme is delivered through local authorities via a partnership of libraries,
health visitors and Early Years Settings. Health visitors will give a Bookstart pack to
the parents with children aged 0 to three years, and the pack contains free books and
guidance materials, and an extended reading list of recommended childrens books
(Booktrust, 2011c). Therefore, in encouraging children to enjoy reading as early as
possible, Bookstart involves a particular public-private partnership arrangement
between private organisations (often businesses) and individuals on the one hand, and
public authorities on the other.
Bookstart has drawn attention of scholars, professionals and educators in many
nations such as USA, Canada, and Colombia, Germany, Belgium, and Portugal. In
Asia, Japan has participated in Bookstart Programme since 2000, Korea in 2003, and
Thailand in 2005. Taiwan ofcially joined the Programme in 2005, although it had
already started it two years earlier (Booktrust, 2011a).
The adoption and diffusion of the Bookstart Programme in Taiwan
The process of the adoption and diffusion of the Bookstart Programme in Taiwan can
be divided into three phases: the advocacy of early childrens education (1977-2003), the
initiation and development of Bookstart in Taichung County, starting with the Shalu
Township Library from 2003, and the subsequent diffusion of Bookstart in Taiwan as
a whole through its adoption both by libraries in other counties since 2006, and by the
Ministry of Education in the central government, as a national policy, in 2008.
The advocacy of Early Childrens Education (1977-2003)
The concept of early childhood education has been promoted in Taiwan for more than
30 years. Hsin-Yi Foundation, a nonprot organisation, was established in 1971, after
which it founded an Institute of Early Childhood Education in 1977. Since then, Hsin-Yi
Foundation conducted various kinds of activity (such as workshops, training, and
publishing, etc.) for promoting early childrens education, including a project designed
Bookstart
program in
Taiwan
363
to enhance reading for babies and young children (Hsin-Yi Foundation, 2011). In
November 2005, Hsin-Yi became an allied member of the Bookstart Programme.
Taiwans Ministry of Education initiated a policy for promoting childrens reading in
2000, but mainly focused on older children at school. The Council of Cultural Affairs (CCA)
designated that year as the Children Reading Year. Many activities and programmes
were initiated and implemented accordingly, including those by public libraries, but none
was designed to promote reading for 0 to three years old babies and youngsters.
The initiation and development of Bookstart in Taichung County from 2003
In 2002, Chen Shi-Don, the Head Librarian of Shalu Township Library in Taichung
County, Taiwan, learned about Bookstart from a special article published on the
CommonWealth magazine. The article not only described the status of Bookstart in UK
and Japan, but also stressed the important relationships between Bookstart
participation and childrens literacy skills and language development, as well as
social development. Inspired by the success of the Bookstart project in UK and Japan,
Chen Shi-Don incorporated Bookstart as a part of the librarys proposal to use funding
from the 2002 Reading Promotion Project and The 2003 Project for Improving the
Space and Operations of the Public Library, which were sponsored by the CCA of
Taiwans central government.
On 28 September 2003, the rst Taiwan Bookstart Programme was inaugurated in
the Shalu Township Library. In the opening ceremony, Deputy Mayor of Taichung
County and the Head Librarian of Shalu Township presented Bookstart packs to 50
parents with children aged 0 to three years. In addition to giving materials in packs to
parents to help start reading activities, Shalu Township Library also held a workshop
to promote the idea of Bookstart (Cheng, 2006).
Diffusion of the Bookstart Programme in the rest of Taichung County
Bookstart Programme in Shalu Township Library was encouraged and endorsed by
the Cultural Affairs Bureau (CAB) of Taichung County authority, and it became a
county level Programme in 2003.[1] In 2004 and 2005, CAB provided funds to enable
two more township libraries in Taichung County to join Bookstart, each of them with a
funding of NT$200,000 (nearly US$7,000).
A formal partnership was established between CAB, township libraries and Hsin-Yi
Foundation in 2006. Bookstart was partially funded by CAB but the Bookstart libraries
had to maintain the Programme from their own revenue. The Hsin-Yi Foundation
provided guidance materials and one childrens book for free, with Bookstart libraries
purchasing further books from Hsin-Yi Foundation at a 50 per cent discount. Also,
Hsin-Yi sponsored training workshops and lectures for librarians, voluntary helpers, and
parents in order to promote the Bookstart Programme.[2] Following this arrangement,
eleven more township libraries joined Bookstart in 2006, increasing to 16 in 2007. By
2008, all 21 township libraries in Taichung County were participating in Bookstart.
The Bookstart Programme in Taiwan followed a similar path to that in UK. The
Programme integrated the joint efforts of a public/private partnership which involve
government agencies and the Hsin-Yi Foundation (see Table I). The one small
difference was that in UK the Bookstart pack is delivered to a family during a health
visit, while in Taiwan, parents received an invitation card to participate in a ceremony
in which the Bookstart pack is given as a gift to the participants.
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The progress of Bookstart in Taichung County was signicant. From 2003 to 2009, the
number of Bookstart related events (ceremonies, workshops, and promotional events)
increased substantially, and the number of participants increased (see Table II). For the
participating township(s) in Taichung County, the number of Bookstart babies as a
percentage of the total number of births in those townships rose from only 5.29 per cent
( just one library) in 2003 to 57.75 per cent in 2009 (all 21 libraries). Further, 21,886
Bookstart packs were delivered over the seven year period, entailing about 40.26 per
cent of all children aged 0 to three years in Taichung County.
The diffusion of Bookstart in the rest of Taiwan
The Taichung County authority is not the only local government in Taiwan promoting
Bookstart. Since 2006, the Programme has been adopted by a number of public
libraries in other local government areas. At the end of 2008, 36 public libraries in
various local government areas in Taiwan had launched a Bookstart Programme
(Hsin-Yi Foundation, 2011). As an example, the Taipei Public Library and four of its
branch libraries started to promote Bookstart in 2006.
Moreover, in accordance with The Development Programme for Innovative Library
Services (2009-2012), which was initiated in November 2008, the Ministry of Education
at the central government level adopted Bookstart as one of the three sub-projects of its
Special Funding Project for Promoting Reading and Improving Library Collection in
2009. According to the funding scheme, ve public libraries each local government
area can each be funded on a competitive basis for up to 300 Bookstart packs. Since
then, Bookstart has became a national policy. The Ministry of Education funded 103
public libraries to undertake a Bookstart Programme in 2009, and 138 in 2010 (see
Table III).[3] By the end of 2009, the Bookstart Programmes in Taiwan had delivered
38,624 Bookstart packs, conducted 1,209 sessions of various kinds of Bookstart related
Items/activities Responsible organization
To issue library card for baby or youngster
To promote parent-children joint reading
To collect appropriate childrens book
To provide library tour
To promote Bookstart
Township libraries, voluntary helpers
To appoint a person to chair the Bookstart
ceremony
Local politicians
To conduct a workshop for librarians and
voluntary helpers
To provide books, guidance materials, extended
reading list, and Bookstart bag, ag, and apron
Hsin-Yi Foundation
To provide a roster of children aged 0-3 years County Civic Affairs Bureau and Household
Registration Ofce
To hold press conference County Information Bureau
To promote Bookstart County Public Health Bureau, voluntary helpers,
medical clinics, and book stores
Source: Data compiled by authors
Table I.
Partnership for Bookstart
Programme in Taichung
County
Bookstart
program in
Taiwan
365
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Table II.
The performance of
Bookstart in Taichung
County (2003-2009)
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activities (e.g. workshops for parents and carers) in which 167,568 people participated,
and issued 16,493 library cards for 0 to three years old baby (about 4.3 per cent of the
age cohort) (Ministry of Education, 2010a, b). Although data are not yet available for
2011, it is estimated that by 2011 there were 150 participating public libraries funded
by the Ministry and that 41,400 reading packs had been issued.
Although quite a number of public and branch libraries have yet to adopt Bookstart
(about 285 public libraries and their branch libraries in 2011), in the long run, it is
anticipated that every 0 to three years old child in Taiwan will have the opportunity to
benet from the Bookstart Programme involving all public libraries.
In addition, the Bookstart Programme has been adopted at the school level indicated
by the decision of Ministry of Education to incorporate it in the activities for the rst
grade students of the elementary school. Since 2009, every student in the rst grade
has received a Bookstart pack from the school which included one book and guidance
materials. Also a reading corner was designated in every rst grade classroom in
which 15 appropriate books for children are provided for students to read. In 2009,
221,359 Bookstart packs for rst grade student were delivered, and reading corner
had been built in 9,050 classrooms.
Direction of diffusion. Studies in the literature on policy diffusion focus on the
direction of diffusion, distinguishing between horizontal and vertical diffusion, and
also between different types of vertical diffusion. Horizontal diffusion refers to the
spread of a policy innovation among government agencies at the same level, often on a
voluntary basis, for example one local authority deciding to follow another in adopting
a new policy or service. It decides to do so after it observes the benecial outcomes of
the innovation. Vertical diffusion entails two processes. One is bottom-up in which a
higher level of government (e.g. central or national government) adopts a policy
initially implemented at a lower level (e.g. a local or provincial authority). This then
leads it to apply pressure on lower levels (e.g. lower level agencies and local authorities)
to adopt a policy through directives or incentives. In such a case, the process becomes
hierarchically driven (Allen et al., 2004; Daley and Garand, 2005). Furthermore, one
process may lead to another. For example, when horizontal diffusion among local
agencies has occurred to a signicant degree so proving the worth of the innovation,
vertical diffusion may occur with agencies at a higher level (e.g. central government
level) also adopting it. In this case, horizontal diffusion leads to vertical diffusion.
In Taiwan, both horizontal and vertical diffusion have occurred in relation to
Bookstart. The Programme initially spread horizontally among libraries in Taichung
county. The CAB of Taichung County provided the needed coordination and limited
nancial resources to support the Programme, and helped to diffuse the Programme to
the other township libraries in its jurisdiction. It was then adopted by the Ministry of
Education at central government level (vertical diffusion), which introduced it into the
Year Funding scheme No. of libraries
No. of Bookstart packs
funded per library
2009 Five libraries in every county/city 103 300
2010 Six libraries in every county/city 138 300
Sources: Ministry of Education, 2009, 2010
Table III.
Bookstart programme
under Ministry of
Education Scheme
Bookstart
program in
Taiwan
367
schools under the Ministrys authority and promoted it among other county authorities
through the inducement of funding (top-down vertical diffusion).
An intriguing question is that, without sufcient nancial support or a mandate at
the highest level of government, is there any kind of policy learning process or
mechanism involved to facilitate the diffusion of Bookstart Programme in Taiwan
horizontally and vertically (Mossberger, 1999; Eising, 2002; Downe et al., 2004)?
Comparisons with Bookstart in UK
As mentioned previously, the Bookstart was adopted from the UK. As in many cases of
policy learning from another state, modications are made to the innovation to suit the
needs and conditions of the recipient state. Thus, it is useful to identify the similarities
and differences between the Bookstart Programs in Taiwan and UK. As in UK, the
Bookstart Programme in Taiwan is promoted through a public-private partnership in
which public libraries work closely with an independent organisation (i.e. Hsin-Yi
Foundation). However, the two Bookstart programmes are different in a few respects.
The Bookstart is primarily initiated and administered by public libraries in Taiwan,
and the Hsin-Yi Foundation plays only the supportive role; in UK the relationship is
reversed, with the private sponsors (publishers, a bookseller and various writers, as
well as Sainsburys) taking the lead role, though with government providing the seed
funding and certain of the resources. Further, more agencies and ofcials are involved
in the project in Taiwan than in the UK, including local politicians (e.g. Township and
County Mayors) (see Table I).
An analytical framework for further study
Determinants of diffusion
A key question is what have been the key factors in promoting the diffusion of the
Bookstart Programme, and in determining whether a library adopts it or not. This will
be a central focus in the next stage of the study. This is an important aspect in the
study of diffusion on policy and service innovation (Walker et al., 2011, p. 106). Some of
the determinants may be internal to the organisation, including the resources of the
organisation, such as nancial and human resources, and the attitudes of
organisational leaders, managers and operational staff (Damanpour, 1991; Daley and
Garand, 2005; Berry and Berry, 2007; Walker, 2006). Other determinants may be
considered as external to the organisation. These may include inter-governmental
relations (relationship between local authority and central government),
socio-economic conditions, geographical location, inter-agency rivalry and promotion
and sponsorship by outside private institutions. Of these determinants, the following,
which are explained in the following, may be particularly inuential in the adoption
and diffusion of the Bookstart Programme in Taiwan and will provide the basis for an
analytical framework to guide further research.
Organizational factors
A key factor inuencing the adoption and diffusion of innovation are internal features of
the adopting organisation. Thus one may expect that the organisational features of the
public library will determine whether it implements the Bookstart Programme or not.
Here several variables relating to the organisation (the library) may be considered.
One are the resources available to implement the Programme. These include the
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amount of funding in a librarys annual budget available to support Bookstart
activities, adequacy of existing facilities, and whether standard operating procedures
can be adjusted to accommodate such activities. Also important is the degree of
professionalism of the staff, and nature of the organisational culture within the library
(whether it is open to change and supportive of early learning).
A further consideration are the opportunities for policy learning in the library. The
key question is what were the means to enable the personnel in the library to be made
aware of the Bookstart Programme and gain a proper understanding of it. In addition,
was the innovation compatible with role or perceived role of the organisation (Walker,
2006; Rogers, 1995)? These considerations may play an important role in determining
whether a library adopts the Bookstart Programme and will be a focus for further study.
Subjective perceptions
It is hypothesised that the subjective perceptions of the leaders and personnel in the
library, especially the Head Librarian, toward Bookstart will crucially inuence
whether it is adopted or not. In-depth interviews and/or survey questionnaires of
library managers and personnel will be used to assess their attitudes to the Bookstart
Programme, how they felt it should be organised and implemented, and the extent to
which they were motivated by a public service ethic in undertaking it.
Socio-economic, demographic and geographical factors
External environmental factors (socio-economic, demographic and geographical
factors) may play a role in determining the diffusion of policy and service innovation at
the local level. In the case of the Bookstart Programme, its adoption by a particular
library and the impact it has are likely related to the socio-economic circumstances and
demographic characteristics of the specic group in the population who are potential
participants in the Programme (children aged 0 to three years and their parents or
carers). Bookstart targets a specic group of the population. Here the variables to
consider are family income, parents occupations, birth rate, and degree of urbanisation
They not only determine the willingness or ability of local young families to participate
in the Programme, but may also be taken into account by the public library in its
decision to adopt or not the Programme.
A further consideration in the diffusion of the Bookstart Programme are
geographical factors. These may include the proximity of a library to well-populated
residential areas, which will increase the likelihood of a signicant enrolment in the
Programme and therefore the chances that the library will adopt it. Perhaps also
important is the proximity of a library to other libraries already implementing the
Bookstart Programme. Several scholars have argued that organisations adopt
innovations by learning from neighbouring organisations (Mintrom and Vergari, 1998;
Haider-Markel, 2001; Cohen-Vogel and Ingle, 2007). Thus, the study will examine
whether there is a geographical pattern in the spread of Bookstart in terms of
proximity of adopting libraries to well populated areas and to other libraries who had
recently adopted the Programme
The impact of existing Bookstart Programmes
It may be argued that a policy or service innovation becomes more readily diffused
when its benets are increasingly observed during the process of diffusion. The more
Bookstart
program in
Taiwan
369
positive the impact in the early stage of the process the more likely will other agencies
follow suit. In the case of the Bookstart Programme, it is likely that more and more
libraries adopted it, and support for it increased, as evidence of its positive impact
accumulated.
Three variables relating to impact may be analysed. First how readily were libraries
able to implement the Bookstart Programme in terms of their operating procedures and
resources, as mentioned previously? To answer this question, information can be
gathered from in-depth interviews with library personnel. The second variable is the
impact on parents, carers, and children, in particular whether it increased the amount
of reading. Output data will be relevant in examining this issue such as the number of
Bookstart packs and library cards issued, the number of families and children enrolled,
and the number of workshops held. This data may be obtained from library les and
records, and a questionnaire will be administered among participating families to nd
out their views on the benets of Bookstart. Another variable affecting the diffusion of
Bookstart is the rivalry between libraries for resources, good reputation and higher
status. Policy or service innovation may be adopted in the diffusion process as a result
of agencies not wishing to be outdone by each other with respect to resources,
reputation and status. In-depth interviews of library managers would shed light how
much this was a motivating factor in the adoption of Bookstart.
Public-private partnership
It is clear from the research that Hsin-Yi Foundation, a private charitable foundation,
played a critical role in setting up and promoting the Bookstart Programme. It acted as
a means of communicating information about it to different libraries, raising
motivation to participate and providing the necessary resources including reading and
learning and materials. This is consistent with the suggestion of Koski (2010), that an
external knowledge broker is often necessary in the policy diffusion process to serve as
a communication hub, raising awareness, and developing a common understanding of
the innovation. The role of private partners in Bookstart may be understood in the
context of the increased role of public-private partnerships in public service delivery in
general (Bovaird, 2004). An interesting aspect of such partnerships are the rewards for
the private partner in this process (Bevir, 2009, p. 160).
The further study of the Programme will utilize in-depth interviews and a
questionnaire survey to determine the role of the Hsin-Yi Foundation and other partner
organisations in promoting the Programme among the different libraries, identifying
how their responsibilities were coordinated with and supported those of the local
authority and the libraries themselves.
Conclusion
The foregoing analysis is an exploratory study of the Bookstart Programme in Taiwan
showing how it was adopted from the UK, and then how it spread in Taiwan itself. It,
therefore, is a study of the diffusion of a policy or service innovation. It showed that the
diffusion involved a public-private partnership entailing a collaboration between local
authorities, public libraries and outside charitable organisations, most notably the
Hsin-Yi Foundation. In the initial stage, the diffusion was a horizontal process, in
which public libraries of their own accord followed each other in adopting it. In recent
years the diffusion has become a more vertical and hierarchically driven process after
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it was adopted by the Ministry of Education as a national policy. The Ministry
introduced Bookstart into the schools and provided funding inducements for public
libraries to adopt it.
The paper posits an analytical framework for further study of the diffusion of the
Bookstart Programme, focusing on what inuenced its spread in Taiwan. The
variables that determine the diffusion and adoption of policy and service innovation is
a central theme in the theoretical literature on diffusion (Evans, 2009). The framework
identies internal organisational factors (such as availability of resources,
professionalism of staff and perceptions of managers and staff towards Bookstart).
Also indentied are a range of external factors affecting the diffusion including
socio-economic, demographic and geographical factors, the inuence of libraries who
were early adopters and the promotional role of private partners. The analytical
framework draws on the theoretical analysis of policy and service diffusion within the
relevant literature and on the evidence provided in the explorative study.
The further study of Bookstart in Taiwan will provide a means to test the analytical
framework and so determine which of the variables indicated previously have had a
decisive impact on its diffusion and adoption. The study thereby can shed light and
provide feedback on the key determinants of diffusion, and thus the major inuences
on decisions to adopt or not a policy or service innovation.
Notes
1. Township library is under the supervision of CAB of the county government, and CAB
reports to CCA of the central government. However, the policy to encourage early children
reading (Bookstart is one sub-project of this policy) and the budget is within the jurisdiction
of the Ministry of Education.
2. Usually, the voluntary helpers are also parents who have participated in Bookstart
Programme, but are willing to share their experiences with new participants.
3. It is not clear whether there is any overlap between the 2009 list of public libraries and those
of the 2010 one. Presumably only those libraries with good performance will be funded again
since the funding is provided on a comparative basis.
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About the authors
Milan Tung-Wen Sun is a Professor in the Department of Public Policy and Administration,
National Chi Nan University, Taiwan. His research areas include public management reform,
intergovernmental relations and comparative administration. Milan Tung-Wen Sun is the
corresponding author and can be contacted at: twsun@ncnu.edu.tw
Mei-Chiang Shih is a Professor in the Department of Public Management and Policy, Tunghai
University, Taiwan. His research focuses on administrative reform, metropolitan governance,
and network analysis.
Keng-Ming Hsu is an Assistant Professor at the National University of Tainan. His current
research focuses on public policy and sustainable development (climate change and
environmental protection).
Jenhei Chen is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Policy and Administration,
National Chi Nan University, Taiwan. His research focuses on collaborative governance and
voting behaviour.
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